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Membership news from Publishing Scotland
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Member news and round-ups:
Congrats to Saraband and Canongate who both have titles longlisted for the Dublin Literary Award; The Wee Book Co.recently won a Gold Best Product Award at Scotland's Trade Fair; 3 titles from Sandstone Press and 1 from Birlinn feature in the favourite Scottish Nature Photography vote; and this years PPC Annual Awards Shortlist includes Canongate's Anna Frame and Aisling Holling.
In other member news it was upsetting to hear that stalwart publisher DC Thomson in Dundee are losing so many employees with redundancies being announced. And also to hear that Angus Wolfe Murray – writer, and co-founder of Canongate Books – has died at the age of 85. A champion of our industry who will be much missed.
There is also time for celebration however as we offer our very best to Canongate for their 50 years of amazing contribution to the culture and publishing scene of the country.
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In this bulletin: (calls to action in red)
- Creative Scotland Open Funding for Organisations | Sector Sessions
- Submit for the London Book Fair International Rights Catalogue by 13 February
- Submit titles to the BA / Gardners Summer Catalogue by 17 February
- Pitching to Autumn Book Festivals 2023 - sign up for 13 March
- Sign up to Libraries Day - register for Tuesday 21 March, Dundee
- Sign up for One-to-One Bookbug Sessions and/ or submit titles by 31 March
- Meeting room in Edinburgh for free member use
- Audiobook project update - books chosen
- An update from Nielsen BookScan
- Translation Fund, round 2 awarded
- Date for your diary - Scottish Book Trade Conference, Edinburgh, 18 May
- Our Sales Bootcamp Programme - join the Feb & March dates
-
Top 20 bestselling Scottish books in Scotland chart this week
- Training news
- Our useful back catalogue of training, recordings and presentations
- The Publishers Association's new Inclusivity Action Plan
- BooksfromScotland Themes for 2023 - submit your titles
- Scottish Universities Press Launches Open Call for Content
- News and events
- Opportunities
- Jobs
Best wishes,
Lucy
Lucy Feather
Membership Services Manager
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Creative Scotland Open Funding for Organisations | Sector Sessions
Do you want to know more about Creative Scotland's new funding for organisations? Join a session to learn about key features of the new funds, the application process and ask questions.
On 15 February 2023, Creative Scotland will launch two new funds –
• National Lottery Open Fund for Organisations – a revised version of the Open Fund for Organisations: Sustaining Creative Development.
• National Lottery Extended Programme Fund – a time-limited fund offering organisations support for longer programmes of creative activity.
You can find out more about these funds on the website.
To help organisations who may be considering making an application to these funds, Creative Scotland will be running a series of sector information sessions.
Each session will held on Zoom and will be live captioned. A transcript will also be produced, allowing capture of the discussion and review comments and views – these transcripts will not be published in the public domain.
• Monday 20 February, 10:00-11:00
Book here
• Wednesday 1 March, 10:00-11:00
Book here.
• Thursday 9 March, 15:00-16:00
Book here.
• Monday 13 March, 12:00-13:00
Book here.
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Submit your titles for the London Book Fair International Rights Catalogue by 13 February
We will be producing another catalogue package in time for this year’s London Book Fair in April.
Please use this Submission Form to submit books that have been or will be published between January 2023 to September 2023. If you don't have a finished cover by the deadline date, we will add our own 'coming soon' illustration.
This is a key marketing tool in promoting Scottish books around the world, and an opportunity to present your key titles to an international marketplace. Please select up to FIVE of your KEY frontlist titles for inclusion in the catalogue. Please keep the UK-Wide and International markets in mind with your book submissions.
Send your completed forms and cover images and to Vikki Reilly. The deadline for submitting your titles is Monday 13 February.
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Submit titles to the BA / Gardners Summer Catalogue by 17 February
The BA and Gardners are putting together their summer catalogue that is distributed to independent bookshops across the UK. If you would like to submit titles, please send the titles and AI sheets to Ruth Hunter by Friday 17 February.
Please note: The titles are chosen from submissions by the booksellers. If they are selected, the prices are 1-2 titles £950 each; 3-4 titles £850 each; 5-6 titles £750 each; 7+ titles £650 each, although this is negotiable. The books can be fiction, non-fiction or children’s books, and they should be published between March 2023 and July 2023. The catalogue is produced in partnership with Gardners, so all titles must be listed by them, and if they are selected, Gardners will be in touch about extra discount, as they run a promotion on all the featured titles. Publishers can submit up to 30 titles.
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Sign up for pitching to Autumn Book Festivals for 2023 - 13 March
We have organised a pitching session for Autumn festivals Wigtown, Tidelines (Ayrshire) and Bookmark (Blairgowrie) with programmers Lee Randall, Siobhan Staples and Gail Wylie. The pitching session will be held on Monday 13 March from 9.30am - 4.00pm.
This pitching session will be hosted in person in the Publishing Scotland office and via Zoom. We have 14 pitching slots and each will last 20 minutes.
To sign up for a pitching slot, get in touch with Patrick Jamieson
Please also send Patrick the AIs for the titles you will be pitching as we will be putting together a package for each programmer after the session is over
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Sign up to Libraries Day - Tuesday 21 March, Dundee
This year we are delighted to be hosting Libraries Day in person once again. We’ll be hosting our Libraries Day, along with SLIC (Scottish Libraries and Information Council), in a joint collaboration with Literature Alliance Scotland, providing an opportunity not only to network with librarians, but with Scottish literary organisations as well as the Scottish Festival Network. We’ll be hosting the event in the wonderful Dundee Central Library.
In the morning (9.30am – 12.30pm), you will have an opportunity to present your key 2023 titles to the librarians with 15 pitching slots available. There will also be an opportunity to display key titles in the networking space and we will provide details for delivery soon. Refreshments and lunch will be available, so let us know of any dietary requirements when you reserve your slot. The presentation session will be hybrid, so you can also attend and present online if you prefer – again, let us know how you will be attending.
If you would like to sign up to attend and present, please contact Vikki Reilly with your dietary requirements and if you will attend online or in person. When the presentation slots are allocated, send your powerpoint presentation no later than Friday 17 March.
More information on the sessions with Literature Alliance Scotland will be passed on soon.
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Sign Up for One-to-One Bookbug Sessions or submit titles by 31 March
Last year we hosted an Open Book session with the Scottish Book Trust about their Book Bug programme. The recording of that session can still be found in the members area on the Publishing Scotland website. As a follow up to that session, Scottish Book Trust’s Early Years team are keen to hold meetings in February to discuss any titles you may have that are suitable for their Bookbug Baby, Toddler and Explorer Bags for 2024/25. If you’d be interested in setting up a meeting (online or in person) then please contact [email protected].
If you’re ready now to submit titles, you can find the submission form here and information on submitting here. The deadline for submissions is 31 March.
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Meeting room in Edinburgh for member use
We have a small meeting room on the top floor of our offices available for members to book, free of charge. It seats between 4-6 people. Contact Patrick if you are interested.
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Audiobook project update
In November last year, Publishing Scotland launched an audiobook project to encourage the production of audio within the membership and share the learnings from it. Helped with funding from Creative Scotland’s Cultural Recovery Fund, the books that will be funded into audiobook production are:
Carries Kills a Man by Carrie Marshall, published by 404 Ink
How to Survive Everything by Ewan Morrison, published by Saraband
Ruxton: The First Modern Murder by Tom Wood, published by Ringwood Publishing
Elena Knows by Claudia Piniero, published by Charco Press
The Gingerbread Men by Joanna Corrance, published by Haunt Publishing
Publishing Scotland are working with Offbeat Studio in Edinburgh for this project and the audiobooks will be available to download later in the Spring.
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An update from Nielsen BookScan
Blog
Nielsen BookData's regular blog shares the latest insights into the book industry from a range of data sources including BookScan and the Books & Consumers Survey. Free to read and share with anyone who might be interested: https://nielsenbook.co.uk/research/
ISBN Agency on Insta
Follow @ukisbnagency on Instagram for all things ISBN related including lots of useful tips and advice:
UK Book Consumer 2023 presentation - 22 March
This year's annual presentation on the UK Book Consumer will take place on Wednesday 22 March at 10.30 GMT. You can join Nielsen BookData's Steve Bohme as he presents live from the London Transport Museum in Covent Garden, or you can join via Zoom link. The audience will be given a tour of the consumer landscape in 2022. Who are buying books and how has this changed over time? How are different formats fairing in this post-lockdown market and which genres are reigning supreme? Where are consumers buying books? All attendees will gain a thorough understanding of the UK’s appetite for books. For more information visit: https://nielsenbook.co.uk/uk-book-consumer-talk/
Book2Look now features on Bookshop.org
Bookshop.org is now using Book2Look for its 'Look Inside' content giving browsers a unique preview into a book allowing them to access sample pages as well as additional content such as reviews and video/audio clips. Nielsen BookData is working with publishers of all sizes to create 'Look Inside' content for their books and can now automatically generate Book2Look biblets via ONIX (contact them for more details). They can also support smaller publishers using an easy to use online set up tool. For more information email: [email protected]
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Translation Fund, round 2 awarded
Twelve international publishers have received a total of £13,800 for works by Scottish authors to be translated into Ukrainian, Hebrew, Spanish, Dutch, Hungarian, Portuguese, German, Simple Chinese, and Georgian.
This fund is for translation of Scottish writers, so please encourage your international colleagues to apply next time. A new round opens early summer.
The awards went to:
- Bohdan Publishing House (Ukraine) for the Ukrainian edition of Wireless by Charles Stross (Orbit)
- Hakibbutz Hame’uchad-Sifriat Poalim Publishing House (Israel) for the Hebrew edition of A Kind of Spark by Elle McNicoll (Knights Of)
- Impedimenta (Spain) for the Spanish edition of The Accident on the A35 by Graeme Macrae Burnet (Saraband)
- Lebowski (Netherlands) for the Dutch edition of In Ascension by Martin MacInnes (Atlantic)
- Magvető (Hungary) for the Hungarian edition of Summer by Ali Smith (Hamish Hamilton)
- PRH (Portugal) for the Portuguese edition of Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart (Pan Macmillan)
- Rowohlt Verlag GmbH (Germany) for the German edition of Appliance by JO Morgan (Jonathan Cape)
- Sexto Piso (Mexico) for the Spanish edition of Xtabeth by David Keenan (White Rabbit)
- Shanghai Lucidabooks Co., Ltd (China) for the Simple Chinese edition of Lanark by Alasdair Gray (Canongate)
- Singel Uitgeverijen (Netherlands) for the Dutch edition of Case Study by Graeme Macrae Burnet (Saraband)
- Sulakauri (Georgia) for the Georgian edition of Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart (Grove Press)
- Argument Verlag mit Ariadne (Germany) for the German edition of The Inheritance of Solomon Farthing by Mary Paulson Ellis (Picador)
The fund will open again in the early summer. (pictured Hex by Jenni Fagan, published in Spanish by Alba Editorial)
More.
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Publishing Scotland Sales Bootcamp Training Programme, Feb & March dates
We are facing uncertain times in the publishing landscape, and while the appetite for new stories remains undiminished it is vital for all publishing companies large, small, and micropress, to face the challenges armed with sales and business fundamentals in place to give your books the best possible chance in the marketplace.
Publishing Scotland has created a free sales training programme for our members, which we will host in hybrid and online events across early 2022. These sessions will cover best practice for working with the trade so that you build lasting and effective relationships.
Successful Pitching and Presenting in Publishing, Thu 9 and 16 Feb, 11.00 - 12.30 (online)
Creating a Sales Strategy for Publishers, Tue 14 Feb, 11.00 - 12.30 (hybrid)
Understanding Profit and Loss, Tue 21 Feb, 11.30 - 12.30 (online)
How to Work with a Sales Team, Tue 28 Feb, 11.30 - 12.30 (hybrid)
Sell More Books with Metadata, Tue 14 March, 11.30 - 12.30 (hybrid)
How to Sell eBooks, Tue 28 March, 11.30 - 12.30 (online)
These sessions will suit member publishers who have been in business for 7 years or less and for new members of staff in sales & marketing who have been working with more established publishers.
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Date for your diary - Scottish Book Trade Conference 2023
We are delighted to be partnering with the Booksellers Association for our annual conference which will take place in Edinburgh on the 18 May at Central Hall.
More details will follow.
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Top 20 bestselling Scottish books in Scotland chart
Welcome to this week's Top 20 Bestselling Scottish Books in Scotland chart. This week, we have a new number one with Val McDermid and the paperback edition of 1989.
Crime fiction continues to dominate the higher chart positions Top 20, and we have new entries from Martin MacInnes’s latest novel In Ascension, Waterstone’s Scottish Book of the Month Hear No Evil by Sarah Smith and Black and White’s poetry collection superstar, Donna Ashworth with her I Wish I Knew: Poems to Soothe Your Soul & Strengthen Your Spirit.
NB. At the moment, these spreadsheets are for Publishing Scotland members only, and will only be shared via this bulletin. Please do not circulate. You can, however, use the information in them for marketing purposes.
Chart Criteria Reminder: Publishing Scotland receive the Top 250 bestselling titles across Scotland. We then curate the chart to feature Scottish interest books by Scottish authors, or authors based in Scotland, books of Scottish setting and/or subject, and books published by publishers based in Scotland.
See the chart.
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Our useful back catalogue of training, recordings and presentations
A part of our offering to members we record Open Book sessions, some training courses, useful conference presentations and a variety of other sessions. These are available on our Publishing Scotland You Tube channel.
They include sessions on rights, finance, marketing, data, funding, GDPR, employment law, contracts, EDI, intellectual property and more. As a resource these should be very useful for members To access them log-into the members area of our website. Then go to Resources and Links to Recordings and Presentations.
If you are having problems logging in contact Joan.
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The Publishers Association launches the newest iteration of its Inclusivity Action Plan
The Publishers Association launched the newest iteration of its ‘Inclusivity Action Plan’ to promote equality, diversity and inclusion within the industry’s workforce. Created alongside leading diversity and inclusion social enterprise Creative Access, the plan sets out ten commitments for publishing businesses to undertake over the period 2023 to 2026.
The pledges outlined in the plan aim to promote equality of opportunity, drive action, and empower individuals working within the UK’s world-class publishing industry.
The Inclusivity Action Plan has been created following focus groups with a range of employees from different firms across the publishing sector. Those involved in the sessions were asked to discuss some of the most pressing issues the industry is facing when it comes to diversity, equality and inclusion, as well as areas where they see room for improvement. These conversations informed the development of each pledge set out in the plan. These include:
Develop and embed an inclusivity policy which is set and driven by senior leadership.
Commit to data collection and support consistent cross-industry data collection.
Provide opportunities for flexible, hybrid, agile, and part-time working.
Work towards pay equity, including salary transparency.
Publishers Saraband, HarperCollins, and Hachette are among the 21 signatories.
More.
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BooksfromScotland Themes for 2023
February submissions are closed, so look ahead to the rest of the year for themes you can submit titles to.
- March issue: Courage – covering books that feature bold thinking, bravery, achievement, strength, vulnerability
- April issue: Open Up – covering books that feature imagination, new ideas, regeneration, rejuvenation
- May issue: Bloom – covering books that feature nature, adventure, success, wellbeing, comfort
- June issue: Press Play – covering books that feature joy, hobbies, food, music, love, dance, games
- Summer issue: Let the Sun Shine – covering books that feature summer reading, travel, outdoors, climate
- September issue: Shake it Up – covering books that feature sport, history, politics, inspiration, experiment
- October issue: Do You Believe in Magic? – covering books that feature magic, surprise, tricks, mystery, supernatural
- Festive issue: Revel, Revel – covering books that feature festive gifts, party, indulgence, friendship
To submit email Vikki Reilly.
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Scottish Universities Press Launches Open Call for Content
The open call is offered to academics at the participating institutions and will include edited collections as well as monographs. This milestone marks the endpoint in the start-up phase of the project and establishes the Press as a core component of the open access publishing infrastructure in Scotland, offering researchers at Scottish institutions easy access to high quality open access publishing.
SUP is the largest collaborative institution-led publishing enterprise in the UK, led by the libraries at the 18 participating institutions and coordinated by the Scottish Confederation of University and Research Libraries (SCURL).
Proposals should be submitted using the proposal form on the SUP website. All proposals will go through a full peer review process which will be managed by the SUP Editorial Board, comprising 14 academics from participating institutions and two external representatives.
The open call follows a short-term initial call which ended on 18 January and aimed to attract monographs nearing completion that will be ready for publication in 2023/24. Proposals received through the initial call will be considered by the SUP Editorial Board before passing to peer review.
Please direct enquiries to Gillian Daly SUP Press Manager and SCURL Executive Officer.
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News
Freelance Report from LAS
Literature Alliance Scotland's new Freelance Report highlights the precarious nature of freelance work across the sector. They are calling on arts organisations to value freelancers with fair and fast pay.
More.
Nick Barley stepping down
Nick Barley, Director of the Edinburgh International Book Festival, announced on 2 February 2023 that he will step down in September after successfully delivering 14 editions of the internationally-acclaimed festival.
More.
The BookMachine Podcast
A new way you can tap into all things careers and publishing - The BookMachine Podcast: Conversations in Publishing.
With a new episode released each month, the podcast shines a spotlight on the unsung heroes, rising stars and inspiring people that make publishing happen.
More.
International Culture Strategy - fill in the survey
The Scottish Government has committed to developing a strategy to support the international aspirations and potential of Scotland’s culture sector. This survey is aimed at cultural organisations, creative industries companies, and individual practitioners who work internationally and those with aspirations to do so. Through this survey they want to understand views of all interested parties in this work to inform the shape the strategy takes. The survey is likely to require about 30-45 minutes to complete.
More.
Community Wealth Building Consultation – Scottish Government
The deadline is Tuesday 25 April 2023 for sending views to the Scottish Government’s consultation on community wealth building (CWB). If you are interested in this, please do take the time to send your views directly into the consultation via the gov.scot website. Publishing Scotland members can also send in their views via Marion Sinclair, Chief Executive. “CWB is focused on growing the influence communities have on the economy and ensuring communities receive more of the benefits from the wealth they help to generate.”
More.
Events
Creative Freelancing - 17 February, Glasgow
How do you operate as a creative freelancer? What are your rights, and how do you protect them? What happens when things go wrong, like late payment or a dispute with an employer? How do you do your taxes?
Join Heather Parry, the co-creator of the Illustrated Freelancer’s Guide, for a practical and supportive workshop on navigating your career in the creative arts as a sole trader. With a focus on easily understandable help and simple guidance, this workshop will cover:
1) the basics of operating as a creative freelancer
2) maintaining your sanity + advocating for your rights
3) a Q&A to discuss anything at all
More.
Bookselling Ireland Conference, 27 & 28 February
Bookselling Ireland represents booksellers in Ireland, and is run by a committee of booksellers, supported by The Booksellers Association. Bookselling Ireland & Publishing Ireland will be holding their annual Irish Book Trade Conference on February 27 and 28 at the Clayton Hotel, Cork City.
More.
StAnza 2023
Tickets are now on sale for StAnza 2023 in St. Andrews from 9-12 March for a brilliant weekend of poetry. Check out the full programme.
More.
SYP Scotland Spring conference - 1 April, Edinburgh
SYP Scotland proudly presents their annual Spring 2023 Conference – Skill Seekers: Navigating the Rollercoaster World of Publishing.
More.
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Opportunities
Bloody Scotland prizes open for entries
McIlvanney Prize and Debut Prize are now open for submissions - please note the deadline of 5pm on Friday 31 March 2023.
Please also note that the eligibility criteria have changed so you might find that more of your authors are now eligible. We are also asking you to fill in an entry form for each title. The winner of The McIlvanney Prize – Scottish Crime Book of the Year will receive £1,000 and the winner of The Bloody Scotland Crime Debut of the Year will receive £500. Books entered for The Debut Prize will automatically be considered for The McIlvanney Prize.
More.
The Printing Charity’s Rising Star Awards open for entries until 2 April
The Rising Star Awards are there to fund training and development opportunities to help young people aged 18-30 in our sector, whatever their role, develop vital skills to progress their career and thrive in the print industry of the future.
Previous applicants have selected courses to help with collaboration and teamwork, boost resilience and confidence and improve presentation skills, as well as Chartered Institute and core skills training. The one thing all our winners have in common is their approach to their award entry: they know what they need to accelerate their career and explain that clearly in their application.
More.
Norwegian Fellowship opportunity for children and YA publishers
NORLA invites foreign publishers, editors, sub-agents and scouts of Children’s and Young Adults literature to apply for our fellowship program at the Norwegian Festival of Literature in Lillehammer, 23 – 26 May 2023.
More.
Indie Book Awards 2023 - deadline 13 February
Submissions for the Indie Book Awards 2023 are now open. The deadline for entries is 13 February 2023. The Indie Book Awards comprise four categories: Fiction, Non-Fiction, Children’s Fiction and Picture Book. Publishers can submit up to three titles per imprint, per category. Independent booksellers across the UK and Ireland will vote on the submitted titles to create the shortlist. A panel of judges will decide on the four winners. The Indie Book Awards shortlist and winners are promoted to and by all bookshops participating in Independent Bookshop Week.
More.
British Academy Book Prize - Nominations until 28 February
You have until Tuesday 28 February to nominate a book for the 2023 British Academy Book Prize. The British Academy Book Prize, worth £25,000, is awarded annually for a non-fiction book that promotes global cultural understanding.
More.
New fund for Poetry Pamphlet Publishers - apply by 3 April
This fund is administered by the Scottish Poetry Library on behalf of Creative Scotland. The Poetry Pamphlet fund is a pilot fund to support Scottish poetry pamphlet publishers. To provide some help in this time of financial uncertainty, the fund will be a one-time opportunity for eligible publishers to apply for grants of £500-£750. This can include funding for ongoing or already-planned projects, such as marketing costs, publication costs, author fees, and production costs. Any pamphlet publisher based in Scotland may apply.
The publisher must have published at least two poetry pamphlets to a professional standard in a physical format between January 2021 and December 2022.
More.
Visit our opportunities page for more.
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Jobs
Hodder Education: Editorial Project Manager
Apply by Monday 13 February for this permanent full-time role based either in Edinburgh, London, Newcastle or Sheffield.
Hodder & Stoughton: Editorial Operations Assistant
Apply by Wednesday 15 February 2023 for this full time, permanent position which can be based at the Hachette office in Edinburgh or London, Newcastle, Sheffield offices.
Edinburgh International Book Festival: Digital Marketing Manager
Apply by 5pm on Friday 17th February for this permanent full-time position in Edinburgh.
Edinburgh International Book Festival: Marketing Officer
Apply by 5pm on Friday 17 February for this permanent full-time position in Edinburgh.
Hodder & Stoughton: Senior Publicist (1 Year FTC)
Apply by Monday 20 February for this full-time, one-year fixed term role in Edinburgh, London, Newcastle or Sheffield.
FLB Group: Diary Production Editor
Apply for this full-time, permanent position in Dalkeith by Friday 24 February.
Edinburgh City of Literature Trust - Communications Executive
Apply by 27 February for this full-time, permanent role in central Edinburgh.
The Scottish Text Society: Administrative Officer
Apply by Tuesday 7 March for this part-time role based online and in Edinburgh.
Visit our jobs page for more.
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Scott House, 10 South St Andrew Street
Edinburgh EH2 2AZ
+44 (0) 131 228 6866
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Publishing Scotland is part funded by Creative Scotland | | | | |
